Mets first-round pick Carson Benge, newly stronger, ready for first full pro season

JUPITER, Fla. — Eight months into his professional baseball career, outfielder Carson Benge boasts an unusual stat line: 15 games, 15 new pounds of muscle.

The games came late last season, after the Mets made Benge their first-round draft pick and wanted him to dabble with the Low-A St. Lucie club. The muscle has come in the time since — an effort bolstered, Benge said, by his attendance at a monthlong “strength camp” the Mets hosted to teach the young guys how to attack the weight room and other aspects of off-field life.

Benge, outwardly proud of getting up to 195 pounds, said he “hit it hard.” In addition to feeling a difference on the field during his first spring training, he sees it in his exit-velocity readings, the measure of how fast baseballs come off his bat.

“It was nice to get some weight on, feel heathy and ready for the season,” he said. “I can already feel it a little bit with the balls I’m hitting and everything feels a lot better at the end of the day in my body.”

That positions him well heading into his first full professional season. Whether Benge rejoins St. Lucie or heads to High-A Brooklyn — which would give him his first New York City experience other than when he visited to sign his contract last year — 2025 figures to be a year of learning.

So far, much of his experience in pro ball has been about workouts, practices and camps. Playing in games regularly will be different. The biggest thing he has learned so far, Benge said, is about the need to be mentally prepared for a long haul in a way that his inherently shorter seasons at Oklahoma State couldn’t prepare him for.

“It’s going to be a grind,” Benge said. “So stick it out, stay professional the whole way through and lean on your guys . . . (Pro baseball thus far has) been great. I put on a few pounds, and everyone here is so welcoming.”

Nimmo gets injection

Brandon Nimmo’s return from a sore right knee has been pushed back again.

Instead of getting back in the lineup Sunday, Nimmo received a “gel injection” to help lubricate his knee and was shut down from baseball activities for a couple of days, manager Carlos Mendoza said.

The Mets still believe that Nimmo, who has played in one exhibition game, will be ready for the start of the season. His recent MRI showed just inflammation, no structural damage, Nimmo said.

“We’re still shooting for Opening Day (March 27),” Mendoza said. “Once we get closer to Opening Day, whether he’s not running 100%, he’s not getting at-bats or he’s not doing any baseball activity, we’ll probably have to start to — I’m not going to say worry, but have to have some of those conversations. That’s not the case as we sit here.”

Extra bases

Kodai Senga’s next start will happen in a minor-league scrimmage Sunday, Mendoza said. Clay Holmes will take the mound in the Grapefruit League game against the Nationals . . . Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a member of the Mets’ board of directors, has made appearances at camp in recent days, though he has been less visible than in years past . . . The Mets beat the Marlins, 7-3. Juan Soto went 3-for-3 and David Peterson tossed four scoreless innings . . . On the Miami-based radio call for Mets-Marlins was former Mets pitcher (and former Marlins pitcher) AJ Ramos, who made his broadcasting debut. He is doing some radio work for the Marlins this year.

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.